A cannabis courier caught transporting a £93,000 drugs haul through South Cumbria has been jailed for 13 months.
Qiu Chen was the front seat passenger in a car he said was being driven by his uncle when it was stopped on the M6 near Kendal, on February 20, because it was registered to a different area.
Both occupants gave differing and conflicting accounts about their journey when quizzed by police, 24-year-old Chen claiming they were heading to Scotland to find his uncle’s lover, Carlisle Crown Court was told.
An officer could smell an illegal substance coming from the vehicle.
When the boot was searched, vacuum-sealed packages of female flowering cannabis heads were found and seized.
There was over 9kg of the class B drug, potentially worth between £69,795 and £93,000 on the street.
An iPad on the dashboard revealed the vehicle’s destination was Glasgow.
Chen admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
He was in the country illegally after a failed asylum bid, was unemployed and homeless with no income source.
As a result he accepted a £400 offer to deliver the cannabis cargo but insisted he had no knowledge of the extent of the wider operation or onward supply arrangements.
Chen’s barrister said he had been in a “desperate position”.
But, sending him to prison, Recorder Mark Rhind QC said: “This was commercial supply on a large scale. You are an adult man who made a decision to get involved in a serious offence to get money.”
